Monday, Aug. 25, 2003 | 9:44 a.m.
Prep football previews
Today: Year of the QB -- Las Vegas bucks its history with three top prospects at the position.
Tuesday: Sunrise Region preview with capsules and predictions
Wednesday: Sunset Region preview with capsules and predictions.
Thursday: Small schools preview with capsules.
Once a good enough signal caller to take a shot at the NFL, Greg Murphy can still recognize talent at quarterback.
In the eyes of Green Valley's new coach, one-armed bandits are not limited to the casinos in Las Vegas this season.
"This is definitely a good year for quarterbacks," Murphy said. "We've had good quarterbacks in the past, but I don't think we've had as many prolific passers. That kind of makes a little bit of a statement."
The statement is a Las Vegas prep football anomaly, as the 2003 season begins Friday night. Three top-flight pocket passers -- Bishop Gorman's Steve Harris, Basic's Chris Montano and Green Valley's Lance Patonai -- could help shed the city's run-first, pass-last tradition.
All three come off frustrating junior seasons, limited either by injury or limited opportunity. Yet each quarterback is attracting Division I interest, a rarity in a city that has produced just one solid college quarterback -- former Green Valley and UNLV standout Jon Denton -- in the past decade.
Before Denton, the last significant name most can recall is NFL veteran and 1970 Gorman graduate David Humm, who starred at Nebraska in college.
There is a chicken-and-egg debate about Las Vegas' lack of quarterbacks: Do teams throw less because they do not have a quarterback or are fewer good quarterbacks showcased because teams rarely throw?
Long toss
Pick from any number of reasons offered by area coaches and players about why local teams do not develop their passing game. Certainly, with increased pressure on coaches to win quickly and consistently, it is tougher to invest the time and effort to raise a traditional quarterback when the run is a proven winning formula.
It also grinds on offensive linemen to constantly pass-protect. One coach even suggested that year-round baseball in the Valley robs football teams of strong-armed quarterback prospects.
Cimarron-Memorial coach Ron Smeltzer echoed many, saying that putting a top athlete at quarterback as a running option and occasional passer is a much surer bet than trying to develop a traditional quarterback.
"Teams here play their best athlete there and that doesn't necessarily lend itself to drop-back (passers)," Smeltzer said.
Basic coach Cliff Frazier, whose team relies on a timing passing attack with Montano, feels the prevailing rationale among coaches is even simpler.
"There's just a fear of throwing the ball," Frazier said. "It really takes a lot of guts."
Guts do not always equal glory, though, Las Vegas coach Kris Cinkovich feels. The Wildcats relied on passing-based offense from 1995-99, featuring Anthony Marini, the city's last potential quarterback prospect. Cinkovich said tossing the ball with a first-rate quarterback won plenty of regular-season games, but that Las Vegas would not have won its 2001 state title without switching to a power running offense with less emphasis on the passer.
"Until we got down-and-dirty physical, we couldn't win the biggest games," Cinkovich said.
Full throttle
This year's boom crop of passers will try to change some running-based minds by winning.
Harris, Montano, and Patonai are a "Charlie's Angels" group -- each an attractive prospect, but each bringing a different set of skills and qualifications to the mission.
Because of the junior year setbacks, though, each quarterback must showcase himself early this season if he is to earn a scholarship.
"He's put a lot into it, but he knows that nothing really matters until he gets in the game and proves himself," Gaels coach David White said of Harris, summing up the need of all three players.
Emerging from behind graduated Blake Sartini after two years as a backup, Harris looks and sounds the quarterback archetype. Muscular and confident, he is a former baseball pitcher ready to unleash his cannon arm on the Sunset Region.
"He's got a hose," White said. "He can throw the quick ins and outs."
Harris spent the summer learning the in and outs of becoming a college prospect, gaining exposure in camps at Wisconsin, UCLA, Boise State and New Mexico. He also took part in the famed Elite 11 quarterback camps at Stanford, Texas A&M, and UNLV, earning a national Top 100 rating. Coaches from New Mexico, Utah State and UNLV took notice of the kid who started playing football only as a freshman.
In his travels, Harris discovered that his hometown is behind the times on offense.
"Las Vegas football is not as advanced as California, Florida, Texas," Harris said. "We're getting up to that level. More teams pass the ball and have a balanced offense. It'll come with time and population and all that."
Basic idea
Passing is the soul of Basic's offense, thanks in large part to undersized Montano. Barely 6 feet tall in cleats, Montano leads not by imposing stature, but with the omnipresent smile and admirable work ethic that come naturally to him.
"He's really amazing," Frazier said. "Bar none, he is one of the most exceptional kids I've been around."
A torn medial collateral ligament in Montano's right knee late last season effectively ending bigger dreams for Basic's best season in memory even though Chris' little brother, sophomore A.J., filled in respectably. Already having caught UNLV's attention, Montano refused to let the injury diminish his future.
As soon as possible, he began therapy three times a week at St. Rose Dominican Hospital, running on a treadmill and doing leg curls and presses. His quick return to offseason training set the tone for his Basic teammates.
"As soon as he was cleared, he was in the weight room squatting," Frazier said. "I see him as being the same Chris."
Once again using his powerful arm to move the Wolves' precision offense, Montano said he is actually stronger overall now than he was before the injury.
"It feels like nothing happened," Montano said.
Hitting the books
An excellent student, Patonai did not mind one bit that school began again today. It's just that he is not always on the same page as his teachers.
"I have a (football) notebook I go over in class when I'm supposed to be paying attention," Patonai said. "I get in trouble for that."
Trouble found Patonai last season, when his lanky 6-foot-3 frame could not bear the weight of being dragged down by a Snow Canyon (Utah) linebacker and his collarbone fractured. Patonai came back too soon from the first injury and broke the collarbone again against Foothill.
A left guard when he played in Texas, Patonai converted to quarterback as a sophomore at Green Valley, an example of a local coach spotting a live arm -- even a left-handed one like Patonai's -- and cultivating it. Patonai credits former coach Lanny Littlefield's staff for teaching him the position, even as he still learns to express his confidence outwardly for his teammates.
Patonai, however, did not enjoy being part of a passing-based attack, saying that too many linebackers got free runs at him when Green Valley relied on spread formations. Murphy feels a balanced offense will bring the best out of Patonai, who has received a recruiting call from UNLV.
"He's got all the tools to go on to the next level," Murphy said. "He's a student of the game. He studies the game and is very serious about the game. Besides being able to throw the football, he understands the intricacies of it.
"He has a very strong arm. I'm getting tired of catching his balls in practice."
With the dearth of quarterbacks in Las Vegas over the years, not many coaches have said those words.
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